NEDDC ordered to foot £300k appeal costs for ‘unreasonable behaviour’

North East Derbyshire District Council has had a very bad fortnight, losing 2 appeals on major housing developments in quick succession.

The first scheme, submitted by Rippon Homes Ltd, was for 180 dwellings on Land at Deerlands Road, Wingerworth. The Inspector concluded that there is a five year housing land supply in the District but this is not a ceiling and that the provision of general needs housing together with 40% affordable housing were very significant material considerations weighing in favour of the appeal scheme.

He found that whilst the housing land supply position does not trigger the so called ‘tilted balance’ in paragraph 11 of the National Planning Policy Framework, this is triggered by the fact that the spatial strategy and settlement boundaries are out of date. Permission should therefore be granted unless the adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits. In this case the inspector considered that the adverse impacts would not come close to outweighing the benefits. To make matters worse for the council, the Inspector ordered the council to pay the all of Rippon’s costs of around £300,000.

In the second appeal, submitted by Persimmon Homes, a scheme for 160 dwellings at Land off Mansfield Road, Winsick, Chesterfield was allowed. The Inspector found that although the proposal would conflict with Local Plan policies GS1, GS6 and H3, the weight which should be attributed to them is greatly reduced given the age of the Local Plan (adopted in 2005). The proposals would be in accordance with the most important policies to the determination of the appeal, namely policies BE1 and H12. He concluded that the appeal would accord with the development plan and the Framework as a whole and would constitute sustainable development.

For more information on the above appeals or if you have your own potential housing sites that you are looking to pursue, please get in touch.